Home grown Mae Mut Coffee.

Yesterday we went to visit our good friend Hswe in his village Baan Nong Tao, half an hour up the road from us. He has been producing coffee in his farm for some years now, so it was the lazy choice to ask him to guide us through the process using our home grown beans.

As a first attempt, we harvested about 10kg of fresh beans, thanks also to the children of Thai Freedom House who helped us a lot when they came for their sleepover.

We then took out the first layer of skin before letting the beans dry in the sun for some days. Some of these beans we took to Hswe’s place so he could show us what to do. One initial comment he made is that the beans in their dry yellow state can be kept for a few months before roasting, if the drying process is totally completed, this will result in a more even result when roasting.

The second skin was removed using a mortar and pestle again and the beans were then put in the hand roaster, which is Hswe’s own design, and roasted to the desired level. After that we ground them and made our first ever cup of home grown coffee. I am not a connoisseur, but it tasted good enough to me, the satisfaction of it being home grown adds to the flavour somehow…

Wow, from what I understand arabica is the premium stuff and is harder to grow, especially where I live. It’s usually in the cooler highlands. Let us know how the other types taste when you fruit them!